Program Officer

Blue Dragon Program
The Blue Dragon Program in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam is a joint Government to Government program between Dutch Water Authorities (DWA) from The Netherlands and provinces in the Mekong Delta and the Can Tho University. The Blue Dragon Program connects the Blue Deal goals for sustainable development in The Netherlands with the Mekong Delta Integrated Regional Masterplan in Vietnam as a result of Resolution 120 of the Vietnamese Government. The program started in 2019 and in 3 phases continues until 2030. The program consists of 4 activities: The BLUE DRAGON POOLS form the heart and main concept of the program. The BLUE DRAGON ACADEMY, the BLUE DRAGON SCALE-UP ACCELERATOR and the BLUE DRAGON COMMUNITY are the work packages to spread experiences and results of the pools across the Mekong Delta.
The implementation of the program is not cast in stone. The program is implemented in cooperation with all partners involved. This requires flexibility and an adaptive way of working, which in itself is a new way of working for many professionals at both DWA and government authorities in Vietnam. This is also what we expect from the Program Officer.
Blue Dragon Program coordination
The Program Officer ...
• works in close collaboration with the Dutch partnership managers and the Dutch resident representative of the Blue Dragon Program.
• is the first Vietnamese contact person for the Blue Dragon Program in the Mekong Delta for the participating departments of the participating provinces. Among others the main departments are: Department of Agriculture and Environment, Department of Construction and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment central coordination office in Can Tho.
In this regards collaborates with the local, provincial coordinators in paperwork for all activities of the Blue Dragon Program.
• is the first Vietnamese contact person for the Blue Dragon Program for the Can Tho University.
• manages the cashbook with cash expenses in Vietnam of the Program and reports regularly to the partnership managers.
• archives letters, legal documents, payment receipts and local contracts, training documents, etc. and shares these with partnership managers and/or trainers.
• is employed by an intermediate company in Vietnam according to Vietnamese employment regulations.
The further tasks of the program officer can also be divided in the 4 activities of the Blue Dragon Program:
Blue Dragon Pool facilitation:
The Program Officer ...
• is the linking pin between the Dutch trainers/experts executing the pool knowledge exchange weeks addressing issues of the provinces in the Mekong Delta and the contact persons of the respective Departments of the participating provinces.
• is the first contact person between CTU trainers participating in a pool and organizes liaison between CTU trainers and Dutch trainers.
• establishes in liaison with the partnership managers and the Dutch trainers and the departments the exact dates of the training weeks.
• liaises with and checks whether the respective provincial department responsible for the training week has arranged training location, training materials, field trip to project area, etc.
• checks whether participants lists are submitted in time including participants from other departments and at district level.
• forms the local welcome for the Dutch trainers, who may visit Viet Nam for the first time. The program officer organizes transport between airport of arrival in Viet Nam and the training location / hotel. The program officer reserves hotel(s) for the Dutch trainers and/or partnership managers during their stay in Viet Nam.
• translates training material (power point presentations and other training material) from English into Vietnamese.
• translates from Vietnamese to English and vice versa during smaller meetings between Dutch experts and departments.
• organises professional translators for the pool trainings and larger meetings between Dutch experts and provinces in the Mekong Delta.
• supports local, provincial coordination of participating departments in organising trainings and other activities.
• supports participating departments in paperwork and visa procedures for field trip to the Netherlands.
Blue Dragon Community:
The Program Officer ...
• is responsible for the content and back-end management of the website.
• liaises with a Dutch communication expert from DWA on website and communications improvements and frequency.
• translates website content from English to Vietnamese and vice versa
• publishes articles, news and other content on the website.
• organizes the yearly Blue Dragon Day.
Blue Dragon Academy:
The Program Officer ...
• is link between partnership managers and identified Vietnamese participants in organising training.
• organizes transport for Vietnamese trainers to and from training facility whether in Can Tho or abroad in liaison with the partnership managers.
Blue Dragon scale up accelerator:
The Program Officer ...
• is first Vietnamese contact person between participating provinces in the Mekong Delta and the partnership managers and resident representative.
• is link between partnership managers and Dutch advisors when needed and requested in a pool or pilot.
General
The Program Officer ...
• is based in Can Tho.
• is fluent in Vietnamese and English language.
• works at the Blue Dragon office room at the Can Tho University.
• collects the recorded Vietnamese time input / attendance lists of pool trainings from the involved departments of the participating provinces and forwards these to the partnership managers.
• works initially for 2 days a week, but may grow to 4 days a week. Starting date will be discussed.
• will earn a salary to be negotiated and depending on experiences;
• will receive an initial contract until the end of 2026. Extension is possible but not ensured.